Who says you can't be fit, a foodie and still living a balanced lifestyle?

About the Girl

I’d love to say I’m your average 21 year old Canadian girl but thinking about that statement, I’m not. Currently I’m working abroad in Paris as an Au Pair, exploring my interests and travelling as much as possible. I’m a student at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and am on my way to become a health coach!

Why health coaching?

During my last year in high school I decided to make a change in my health. Within a year I had changed my diet habits and increased my exercise leading to a weight loss of a healthy 20 pounds. Then I became interested in learning more int he health sector and experimenting with everything i could. Sounds pretty positive right?

Most students heading off to college are excited for the new freedom, unlimited meal plans and the ever so reoccurring nights of binge drinking. For me, I was more afraid than anything. I had worked so hard to change my lifestyle around and now was going to be put into an environment, tempted by everything I knew My body didn’t need. In high school I was involved in every sort of sport imaginable keeping myself active everyday. I knew in college things would change, and the daily exercise would turn into weekly, then possibly nonexistent.

I’ll admit I enjoyed college for the first month or so but then I saw the numbers creep back up and my exercise habits drop. I took the initiative to focus on my health again and started making changes.

I tried everything from vegetarians, vegan and even convinced myself I was gluten intolerant. That didn’t last long let me tell you. I wasn’t educated on how to properly how to use these diets either which is where my health started going downhill, and it went fast. I became obsessed with eating healthy and exercising, ultimately acquiring orthorexia.

Orthorexia: the fixation of having the perfect diet

I tried to incorporate every diet into my own which is impossible. I stopped eating bread because everything had gluten. I didn’t eat meat but I also didn’t incorporate any other protein or b-12 vitamin, simply because I wasn’t informed of the proper supplements to take. Throughout the years and the many diets tried I became interested in not only food but health in general, especially my own.

I started experimenting with different recipes in the kitchen, finding what exercises worked best for my body and even trying to incorporate spirituality into my life.

When it became clear that I wasn’t going to be able to find a balance myself, I turned to Integrative Nutrition.

Why would I choose to study instead of pay for professional help?

Simple. I wanted to gain knowledge on something that I would be able to relay onto others that are having the same issues with not having a balance in their own lives. Lifestyle changes are inevitable in our lives at some point or another but that shouldn’t make our health suffer.

My year, so far as a student has taught me many things in the field of health and wellness, the most important being the importance of bio-individuality. The theory no one diet will work for everyone.

Share this:

Like this:

4 thoughts on “About the Girl”

Hey Girl! I love your story. I’m also 21 years old and have gone through some of the same things. I used to be obsessed with healthy eating to the point where it was unhealthy! Doesn’t it feel great to be on the path to freedom? I also just graduated from IIN this past October and loved the experience. Let’s connect on Facebook. I would love to stay connected and get to know one another better. It’s always fun having a friend around the same age to share the experience with! My profile name on facebook is Paige Hilken.

Hello! You’re right about the feeling of finally finding freedom! I feel like I’ve almost wasted so many years of my life focusing on the negative aspects when I could have been enjoying it! I would love to connect! Expect a request 🙂

I just deeply researched IIN because of this post! Lol, definitely looks like something I could be interested in… One question- Are you able to write meal plans and do online coaching? Can’t wait to hear more 🙂